Before a bank signs off on any loan, someone has to answer one question with real evidence: can this borrower actually pay it back? That answer rarely comes from a single number — it comes from reading ratios, cash flows, and financial statements together.

This training course from the Arab British Fellowship Training Academy builds that reading skill from the ground up — starting with what financial analysis actually measures, moving through ratio and cash-flow analysis, and ending with how those findings feed into lending decisions, guarantees, and asset classification.

Who should attend?

Bank managers, senior officials, and anyone who needs to understand how banks evaluate loans and advances before approving them.

What you'll be able to do

• Distinguish between the different types of financial analysis used in lending decisions
• Calculate and interpret key financial ratios, and understand what each one actually signals
• Analyze cash flow to judge a borrower's real repayment capacity
• Connect financial analysis findings to guarantees, lending principles, and credit documentation
• Use analysis results to support asset classification and portfolio-level decisions

Module 1: Why Numbers Decide Who Gets a Loan

• The concept of financial analysis and its role in the lending decision.
• The guarantees that accompany a loan.

Module 2: Types of Financial Analysis Bankers Actually Use

• The different types of financial analysis applied in credit work.
• An overview of the credit function at bank branch level, and the principles and procedures for lending.

Module 3: Ratio Analysis, One Ratio at a Time

• The concept of ratio analysis and the different types of ratios used.
• What each ratio measures and how to interpret its effects.

Module 4: Tracking Cash — Financial Flow Analysis

• The concept and mechanics of financial flow analysis.
• Credit documentation and penalties, and credit control and loan recovery.

Module 5: From Analysis to Asset Grading

• Asset classification as an outcome of sound financial analysis.
• Advanced tools for predicting future financial performance and the success or failure of national economies.
• The practical damage caused by flawed mathematical treatments, and the data needed for a planning budget.

Module 6: Accounting Backbone for Financial Analysts

• Core accounting terms and how accounting information flows through sound systems.
• Methods for registering and posting entries, closing accounts, and building budgets in line with international standards.
• Understanding financial statements and their importance.